Vritra clan
The Vritra clan is the clan of dragons, and one of the eight sura clans. Dragons are considered an endangered species. History In the beginning of the universe, like the other clans, the Vritra nastikas tried to mate and give birth to rakshasa children, but every expectant couple died mysteriously before the delivering. Vritra went to the primeval gods, who revealed that as a price for their powerful Breath, dragons could not reproduce. This led to the clan being the weakest among all Sura clans, because they couldn't increase their power with their descendants. Visnu predicted that if things remained that way, the Vritra clan would become extinct. However, both Visnu and Vritra wanted to avoid such an outcome and convinced Brahma to enhance the characteristics of the race. As a result, dragons were forced to assume male form permanently and have their feelings numbed (particulary love). In return, they'd be able to mate with female humans and Half dragons would be granted the power of a 5th stage Rakshasa after living 100 years. Vritra gathered the remaining Nastika of his clan and told them about the negotiations he had made with Brahma. Most were against the penalty, but only Utpala openly protested to this measure. She insisted the Breath was a little skill and the terms for survival were too strict. Vritra insisted it involved a lot of sacrifices, but it was the only way they'd be able to survive. Taksaka agreed, much to Utpala's dismay, and the penalty was accepted. If dragons had reproduced fast enough, they'd have been able to gain supremacy. The problem was that once their feelings were lost, the race lost interest in dominance and scattered. Most Nastikas didn't even try to reproduce, because in exchange for giving birth to Half dragons, female humans lost 80 years of their lives. Instead they spend their time sleeping in their nests. Utpala had been in love with Taksaka and tried to stay with him after they both lost their feelings. Unfortunately, Tak chased her away and she resorted to impersonating him to get his attention. As time passed by, Utpala grew lonesome and had a relationship with a human.The resulting Half dragon was worshipped by the village, causing the father to feel proud and stop impersonating Taksaka. The Vritra Nastika continued watching after the village long after her son died. According to a prophecy made by Visnu, Taksaka would fall in love with a child of Utpala's line. Now, a dragon in love will go into hiding and avoid fighting even long after their mate dies. Vritra, who loves fighting Tak, tried to avoid this situation by killing Ian. The King impersonated the Destruction Dragon and demanded a human sacrifice from the village. Ian's parents hid her and Vritra destroyed the village as a result. Since Utpala had had the tendency to impersonate Tak, she was framed as a result. Ian survived and moved out to Mistyshore, where she met Taksaka. She learned that neither Tak nor Utpala had destroyed her home, but never found out who the real culprit was. Ian passed away relatively soon for a Quarter, because she lost 80 years of her life by giving birth to Kasak. Taksaka went back to the sura realm, but continued visiting his son and granddaughter in the human realm from time to time until N0. Characteristics It is unknown how many dragons are still alive, but they are considered an endangered race. However, the Dragon Breath skill is really powerful, so much that it could have severely hindered the balance between the sura clans, giving the Vritra clan too much power, in the case they were able to conceive many children. So, while there are few dragons left, they are actually very strong in comparison to other Nastikas. Due the penalty imposed by the primeval gods, all Vritra members are emotionless males, so they must mate with human females in order to have children. In general terms, even Quarters (and probably Halfs - unconfirmed) are possible mating options, too. As a result, the Vritra clan is the only one with no rakshasa, upani or mara descendants. The children's gender depends solely on the father, so female dragon Halfs are rare, because most dragons have been in male form for a long time due the penalty. Aside from that, the numbing of their feelings was not perfect, allowing dragons to have some emotions left. Particularly, the feeling that used to be their more prominent, became more pronunced. The unique transcendentals from the members of the Vritra clan seem to involve illusions and have tricky conditions in order to activate. Their sura form seems to be based on the Eastern concept of dragons, with long, serpentine bodies with several horns and claws, as shown by Kasak's form. Dragons' looks are below average and most had lovers from other clans, because if they fell in love with someone of their own race, they both would die. Politics The Vritra clan used to be allied to the Kinnara clan, because their kings were lovers. When Vritra lost his feelings, he left Kinnara and wandered off. Currently, both clans are listed as neutral, so the alliance is no longer effective. According to the conversation Vasuki had with Utpala, the Vritra clan is neutral only because of their rarity, as the clan cannot grow in number through mating like other sura clans. Vritra is still alive and the King of his clan, but he wasn't interested in his clan even in the early days and wanted to pass the throne to Taksaka. As soon as he lost his feelings, Vritra left his clan. Tak's anger made him too unstable to talk to other dragons, let alone leading the clan. The dragon clan is the only one not racing for dominance, because of their lack of emotions. Vritra Nastika spend their time sleeping in their nests. Despite being strong, they fight alone. For example, Vritra is currently the strongest Sura, but he could be overpowered by Gandharva, since he would have to fend off against the whole Gandharva clan. Notable Members * Vritra * Taksaka * Utpala * Kasak References